MipTV kicks off with a deluge of deals

Buyers nab wide range of content

Business at this year’s MipTV programming mart in Cannes got off to brisk start on Sunday with a flurry of activity that included another European acquisition of Charlie Sheen’s “Anger Management” and a number of 3D titles for BSkyB.

Swedish entertainment broadcasting giant Modern Times Group nabbed the Lionsgate sitcom about an ornery anger management therapist, played by the former “Two and a Half Men” star, for its Viasat Broadcasting free-TV channels in Sweden, Norway and Denmark.

Lionsgate Intl. has already sold “Anger Management,” which premieres on FX in the U.S. on June 28, in Canada, Latin America and Germany.

The U.K.’s BSkyB inked with A&E Networks to license 3D titles “Titanic: 100 Years in 3D,” “History of the World in Two Hours” and “Invisible.” Sky will feature “Titanic” and “History” with two other previously licensed A&E titles, “7 Secrets of the Solar System” and “WWII in 3D,” as part of a History Month showcase. “Invisible,” about discoveries of lost cities, prehistoric fossils and missing WWII aircraft, made by using state-of-the-art technologies, will air this year.

Australian pubcaster SBS became the first foreign broadcaster to pick up Shine Intl.’s 10-part Swedish sci-fi drama “Real Humans,” following its premiere on SVT1 in January. SBS also inked with Shine for the Oz preem of the U.S. versions of “One Born Every Minute” and “History Cold Case” plus the U.K.’s Channel 4 series “24 Hours in A&E.”

London-based FremantleMedia Enterprises inked deals for “Hit & Miss,” the new series by producerPaul Abbott, starring Chloe Sevigny as a transsexual assassin who becomes a parent.

Originally commissioned by Sky Atlantic HD in the U.K., “Hit & Miss” sold to ABC2 in Australia, TVNZ in New Zealand and HOT in Israel. DirecTV acquired the show last year in the U.S. Abbott and FME’s Ana Garanito will discuss “Hit & Miss” in a MipTV panel, Creatives Speaking today.

FremantleMedia also continued its rollout of hit entertainment format “The X Factor” with new sales to TV4 in Sweden and Rustavi 2 in Georgia. The Syco owned format created by Simon Cowell and produced or licensed by FremantleMedia has sold in 40 territories.